Kiss Twice, Kiss Me Deadly
by TheBeautyOfTheGrave
Summary: 14/50 of the 50Shuffle Challenge. "Maybe love isn't always enough..." Draco/Hermione. Not compatible. Angst.


**A/N: Okay so, finally, we have 14 out of 50 for the 50Shuffle Challenge. This is "Kiss Twice, Kiss Me Deadly" by alice nine.**

The cold night air blew in through the open window, caressing her exposed skin and causing a shiver to run down her spine. She tugged at the green velvet blanket that lay loosely over her torso, and pulled it higher. Delicate warmth spread over her body, but it was nothing compared to the heat she felt when he lay beside her, his arms holding her tightly as they drifted in and out of the same dream. A dream that had to end.

She mumbled his name in the silence, and he stirred. Raising his head from its resting place in the hollow of her neck, he gazed into her eyes. The sadness there was unbearable for him to see, and he knew in that instant that there was no coming back. History could not repeat itself again, not for them.

"'Mione..." he breathed, but she gave no reply. Instead, she bent her head slightly and captured his lips in a tender kiss. His arms around her tightened, not wanting to ever let her go, but she withdrew. Wrapping the blanket around herself, she wandered over to the window, as if by some miracle she could escape this.

A thin layer of snow had settled on the Hogwarts soil, causing the moonlight to refract and shimmer like a kaleidoscope, but the beauty of the night outside the castle walls was lost on the two lovers within.

The boy joined his love by the window, and gazed into her face as she looked out into the trees. A single solitary tear rolled down her cheek. Grabbing her waist, he pulled her towards him in an attempt to shelter her from all the pain she was feeling, pain he had caused, but it wasn't enough and after she had wept endlessly into his shoulder, she slipped quietly to the floor.

"We can still make it work, 'Mione..." he whispered into her ear, seating himself beside her. She closed her eyes, and it seemed as if a lifetime had passed before she opened them again. Her eyes, usually so alive with wit and excitement, now sparkled only because of the tears trapped there.

He bent his head and allowed his breath to dance lightly over the soft skin of her neck, before placing a chaste kiss just above her collarbone. She sighed deeply as she felt herself being drawn back in by his charms - no, she couldn't let this happen. She gained the courage to stand and made her way to the door, not forgetting to grab her clothes on her way.

"'Mione, wait... please!" He lunged for the door and grabbed the handle before she could. A cry escaped her lips as she struggled to wrench the door open, but she knew he would not set her free so easily; he would need to be hurt, told the _truth_, to let her go.

"What exactly were you expecting to happen, Draco? We've tried, and tried, and failed each time... it was never going to work out, you knew that..."

The boy's grip on the door handle weakened slightly. "Why not?"

"Oh don't be a fool, Draco." She paused, not wanting to continue but knowing she had to, for her own sanity. "You're a Malfoy. And soon you'll be a Deatheater..."

"No! No, we've talked about this Hermione. I'm not going to do that... for you..."

"And we were foolish to think that could ever really happen." She moved closer to him and held his gaze fiercely. "You have evil in your blood, and Voldemort will get to you." She spoke slowly.

"You never believed I could change?" His eyes fell to the floor and the emptiness of his stare sent a chill down Hermione's spine. _This is the right thing to do... _she convinced herself, _it's for the best._

"No," she said with defiance, "never."

"But 'Mione," he raised his head sharply and grasped her chin, forcing her to look him in the eye, "I love you, and I know that you love me too." This hurt her in a way she'd never experienced before, but it was too late to reverse what had already been done.

"Yes, but maybe... maybe love isn't always enough..." At this, his hand finally slid away from the door handle and he moved aside, falling into an armchair.

She tied her robe around her neck, trying desperately to ignore the tingling sensation as her hand brushed the skin he'd kissed mere minutes before. She looked down at his fragile figure in the chair, knowing that in truth, there was evil lodged somewhere deep inside him. But in spite of that, she couldn't ignore all that had happened in their past, and it seemed wrong, hurtful to them both, to leave with no goodbye.

She placed her hand delicately beneath his chin and lifted it, before bending her head. Their lips met for the last time in a tantalizing embrace, and a million memories flooded back to each of them. She gently caressed his mouth with her own, breathing in his scent as she did so, before finally pulling away.

"Goodbye, Draco." she whispered, and then the door closed quietly behind her.

With the taste of that final kiss lingering on his lips, his head fell into his hands. The blackness of the night outside, and from somewhere within the farthest reaches of his soul, slowly came together to drag him away into a deep sleep, into the dark abyss where he was destined to forever be alone.

**A/N: Yes, I killed off Draco. I, myself, am dying inside at this. But, it was kind of implied in the title :3**


End file.
